Question

Following on from a previous question, I am creating a symbolic link on a Server 2008 from a Vista machine using UNC paths. I can create the link just fine. I can go to the Server 2008 box and double click on the link in explorer to open the target file. What I cannot do though is use FileCreateW to get a handle to the UNC path link (from the Vista box). When I try it, it fails and GetLastError() returns error code 1463 (0x5B7), which is:

The symbolic link cannot be followed because its type is disabled.

How to enable its “type” in Server 2008 (assuming the error means what it says)?

Answer 1

To add to @David Arno’s helpful answer, based on W7:

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fsutil.exe can be made to show what arguments it takes by simply running:

fsutil behavior set /?

To report the current configuration, run fsutil behavior query SymlinkEvaluation – see @Jake1164’s answer, particularly with respect to how a group policy may be controlling the behavior.

The symbolic-link resolution behavior is set on the machine that accesses a given link, not the machine that hosts it.

The behavior codes for fsutil behavior set SymlinkEvaluation – namely L2L, L2R, R2L, and R2R – mean the following:

• L stands for "Local", and R for "Remote"
• The FIRST L or R – before the 2 – refers to the location of the link itself (as opposed to its target) relative to the machine ACCESSING the link.
• The SECOND L or R – after the 2 – refers to the location of the link’s target relative to the machine where the LINK itself is located.

Thus, for instance, executing fsutil behavior set SymlinkEvaluation R2L means that you can access links:

• located on a remote machine (R)
• that point to targets on that same remote machine (L)

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Unlike what David experienced on Vista, I, on W7, was able to resolve a remote link that pointed to a resource on another remote machine by enabling R2R alone (and not also having to enable R2L).